By Daniel Chigundu
Tourist arrivals into Zimbabwe recorded a 62% increase in the first half of 2023 driven by destination marketing and investments drives that have been employed by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) and the government.
In an update to the media, ZTA said ‘’Zimbabwe’s tourist arrivals increased by 62% percent to 591 524 from 366 062 in the first six months of 2023.
‘’Tourism receipts, grew by 16% to US$3973,7 million compared to US$343,1 million recorded the same period last year.
‘’In the first six months of the year, investment into Zimbabwe’s tourism sector grew by almost 99.7% to US$192, 8 million from US$96,5 million,’’ said ZTA.
According to ZTA, ‘’Average room occupancy was 41% compared to 39% in the same period last year. Arrivals from Africa were the major contributor to arrivals contributing about 91% compared to overseas which contributed 11%.’’
However, despite the growth in arrivals, domestic trips have not done well in the period under review were they were down 5% from 4 721 973 in 2022 to 4 466 738 in 2023.
The poor performance in domestic trips were despite the efforts through the Zimbho campaign which is meant to encourage locals to travel.
However, some economic analysts are of the view that the poor results of the domestic trips could be as a result of the economic hardships experienced in the country, where the gap between the US dollar and the Zimbabwe dollar which they resulted in the eroding of disposable income for many Zimbabweans.
